Former teachers among 100,000 people who had records stolen
The records of about 55,000 records of past and present certified and permitted teachers in Nova Scotia — including name, address, date of birth, years of service and educational background — were stolen in the MOVEit cyber security breach.
The information does not include social insurance numbers or banking information, according to the Nova Scotia government.
In addition, at least 150 people in the Department of Health and Wellness provider registry, including doctors, specialists, nurses and optometrists, were affected, along with about 3,800 people who applied for jobs with Nova Scotia Health, including their demographic data and employment details --- but not their SINs.
The personal information was breached as part of a global security issues with a file transfer service called MOVEit. The breach extends to members of the public and employees of Nova Scotia Health, IWK Health Centre and the public service.
These kinds of attacks are becoming increasingly common, and as a business risk, employers should be prepared, says Suzanne Kennedy, a partner at Harris in Vancouver, in speaking to Canadian HR Reporter.
Other groups who had records stolen in Nova Scotia include:
- About 26,000 students
- About 5,000 short-term accommodations owners in a tourism registry
- About 1,400 pension plan recipients
- Roughly 1,000 people issued parking tickets
- About 500 people in adult correctional facilities
Canadian employers such as TELUS and Indigo have also suffered high-profile data breaches.
Credit monitoring, changed passwords for cyber security
Anyone whose sensitive personal information was stolen in Nova Scotia will receive credit monitoring and fraud protection services, according to the government.
Affected individuals will be sent notification letters starting this week.
Nova Scotians who think they have been hacked were also advised to immediately change their passwords and update any versions of browsers, apps and software available for their devices.
“Nova Scotians will have questions, and we do, too. Our staff are working hard to figure that out now,” said Cyber Security and Digital Solutions Minister Colton LeBlanc.
